Storytelling by fire-light at Kipling’s Butser

On Saturday 2nd February, Chichester Copywriter’s Katy visited Butser Ancient Farm to join others around an open-fire in celebration of Imbolc – a Celtic festival marking the start of spring. It seems that Katy wasn’t the only writer to enjoy the chalky hills of Hampshire, Rudyard Kipling, who was hugely inspired by the South Downs, had a soft spot for this particular settlement too.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon on the South Downs and Katy, along with around 50 other revellers, sat on stacks of hay in Butser’s ancient Round House and listened to songs, poetry and tales of folklore and old religions.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was watching a prehistoric, fire-lighting demonstration involving both flint and the bow and drill technique. This mesmerising demonstration was given by Jonathon Huet of Walk with Trees, and involved revelations about the different properties of plants and trees, specifically which are good for use as tinder and which are suitable to create a bow and drill. This was thought-provoking for Katy, who is currently writing a children’s story about nature in the woodland and a YA fantasy novel about trees.

Our West Sussex copywriter also very much enjoyed listening to stories of myth and legend about Merlin and King Arthur in the Round House. Previously, Katy has visited the Dinas Emrys area in Wales, which legend says was the setting of a famous exchange between the warlord Vortigern and a young Merlin. In Jonathon’s version of the stories, however, it was lovely to hear about the action taking place closer to home, namely in Winchester, Hampshire. Here, a large table top hanging known as the Winchester Round Table, thought to be created for an ancient Round Table tournament, can be found today.

Towards the end of the afternoon, Jonathon read aloud a beautiful poem by Rudyard Kipling who was greatly inspired by the contrasting landscapes of the South Downs:

I’m just in love with all these three,

The Weald and the Marsh and the Down countree,

Nor I don’t know which I love the most,

The Weald or the Marsh or the white Chalk coast.

Here is further evidence that the great poet, short-story writer and novelist was enamoured with Chichester Copywriter’s home turf – you’ll notice that Butser even gets a special mention:

Do you too want to feel inspired by the rolling South Downs and the beauty of Chichester Harbour? Why not join Chichester Copywriter in April for the Writers’ Retreat? As well as workshops and talks with published authors you will get the chance to put to paper in this stunning location, with views across the water towards the Sussex hills. Find out more about the Writers’ Retreat here or contact Katy on 01243 533421 for details.

About me

Hello, my name is Katy Lassetter and I have more than 8 years experience as a copywriter. I dabbled with the pen from an early age but first seriously entertained the notion of professional copywriting while studying Communication at Bournemouth University...